When it Comes to Slaughter
by Rivers of Angelic Roses
Summary: Hitsugaya's on the run now, because he tried to murder Hinamori Momo! What's going on? The whole Gotei 13 wants to know. But soon, as Hitsugaya will find out, he's changed in more ways than one.
1. Escaping Reality

His legs were far past their limit. He could tell. The brisk, cold night air of the empty alleys made its way into his breathless lungs, giving his parched throat a frozen feeling, as ironic as it was. For one thing, the small white haired taicho had no clue in why he was running, to be exact. He had a general idea though, and it wasn't pretty.

He was being framed for the attempted murder of Hinamori Momo.

When he first came to this stunning realization, he was shocked. There wasn't a legit reason to try to murder his childhood friend. She was kind, sweet, and considerate. The more he thought about it, the more bewildered he became. At the moment the only thing that made perfect sense was to run, and far away at that.

There was no way that he'd be able to make it to the real world, not with General Yamato, the whole Special Forces squad, and his own fuku-taicho after him! Thinking about it, he probably could have a good guess or two on why his lieutenant was also chasing after him. Not to mention that she was the mother-hen out of the whole tenth squad. She wanted to know why. Why would he do such a thing, is what she wanted to find out. Well, that was for him to remember, and her to find out. He hardly remembered any of it.

**Flashback**

_ He heard a scream, and he vaguely remembered what he was doing. His teal eyes opened to see red. Blood. At first, he wasn't too shocked, he was used to blood after all. What he didn't know yet, was that the blood wasn't his own. But as his eyes traveled upwards, what he saw would scar his mind forever. It was Momo, on the wooden planked floor, blood pooling around her small, frail body. There were footsteps, coming closer by the second. If he was seen with blood on his hands, and sword, he was sure to be thrown in jail. And what he did next was something he might've regretted. _

_He ran. The taicho opened the window to reveal the waning full moon and stars. Toshiro took in a deep breath, and was about to jump out the window, until he heard a familiar voice. _

_"Taicho?" He cursed himself mentally, and froze in place. If he wasn't in deep shit then, he sure was now. His lieutenant gasped._

_"It's not what it looks like, Matsumoto." For attempted murder, his voice sounded pretty calm and even. His head craned towards the tenth squad lieutenant. _

_"Then why are you running?" She asked, pale blue eyes ablaze, but her stance defied her calm voice. She was trembling from head to toe. They looked each other in the eye for a moment. He turned his head back towards the moon, ready to jump. _

_"I'm running, because I know that I did it." That was all he said before leaping nimbly out the window. He swore that he heard his fuku-taicho murmur something. _

_"You're not planning to leave me too, are you?" _

**End of Flashback**

And that was it. He didn't remember anything before that moment. He knew that he tried to murder Momo, but why? That was a hard question to answer, especially if there were going to be people asking you that same question you had no answer to. He felt his lieutenant's reiatsu fairly close, and to avoid her, he rounded a corner. She probably caught a wiff of his icy energy. If he was going to hide, it shouldn't be in the Rukon District, nor the real world. Those were both places that he knew the Gotei 13 would look for him. If they were smart, they would search right under their noses.

Then again, that was something only he would do.

Thinking this, he allowed himself to smirk, but then shook it off. Why was he smirking? He shouldn't be proud that he was probably out-smarting the other captains as a criminal. He leaned against a wall and took in a few deep breaths, making sure to keep his gasping for air under his breath. He had to be quiet, but at the same time, he needed to be quick.

That was hard. Especially since he couldn't use the shunpo. That would immeadiately give away his location.

His pale, clammy hands found themselves weaving through his white un-combed hair. This was not his night. It was even worse, because not even Hyonimaru was giving him tips or attempting to calm him down a bit and think rationally. Well, more rationally than he was at the moment. Toshiro rubbed his eyes tiredly; by now it was four o' clock in the morning. He needed to find a place to sleep, and a quiet place at that. He snapped his fingers. Of course! No one would think to look for him in Yoruichi's cave. Then again, there were few people who knew where it was. Getting a grip on his surroundings, he started to head towards his destination. That was when he heard his lieutenant call out to him.

"Stop where you are, right now, taicho." She commanded, holding out her zanpakuto.

"I'm in deep shit now." Was all he said as he ran.


	2. Under the Full Moon

He spun on his heel, and rounded a few corners. At the moment, he was _very_ vulnerable. Toshiro couldn't use many of the attacks that he had that would surely incapacitate anyone who should come near him. He wasn't an expert in hand-to-hand combat; not many shimigami were, anyway. He feet skidded to a stop when he saw Renji standing in front of him, zanpakuto unsheathed, laying on his shoulder. He wasn't used to being on the criminal's side of the game, but now that he was experiencing it, it was different.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya, by the word of General Yamato, I hereby arrest you for the attempted murder of Hinamori Momo. If you will not come willingly, then I am authorized to take you by force. Am I clear?" Sweat was coming down Toshiro's forehead.

"Yes. You are clear." Hitsugaya said, teal eyes filled with remorse. "But, I have no time to be thrown in jail. There's something I need to know." He slid under Renji's sword, and gave a strong kick to the red-headed pineapple's neck, rendering his subordinate unconcious. "I'm sorry. Just tell me that I'm wrong." And he continued running down the moonlit alleyways of Soul Society.


	3. Coming to Conclusions

"I'm sorry, what?" Her amber eyes were wide with shock. Unohana sat across from her in a small wooden chair. At the current moment, not only was a captains' meeting in session, but Momo had just recovered, and fairly quickly, if Hanataro might've said. He was also standing in the room, closer to the door in case of any emergency, and rather awkwardly at that.

"Hitsugaya tried to murder you, Momo." Unohana repeated stiffly. The girl's breathing became rapid.

"W-what? No way would Shiro-chan do something like that!" Momo said, but inside, she was slowly beginning to deny her statement. The fact of the matter was that her childhood friend had been acting quite odd for the past few days. At first, it seemed quite normal, seeing as the 'Ice Prince' liked to brood and be kept in peace, but as the days passed, Momo herself was starting to worry.

**Flashback**

_"Shiro, are you okay?" Momo asked. Hitsugaya nodded stiffly in return, teal eyes glazed over and looking through the window. "If you aren't feeling well, you should go see Unohana-taicho." _

_"No, there's no need for that." He said. "I'm perfectly fine." Such a Shiro-like thing to say. What also bothered her was the fact that the oh-so adamant workaholic, who normally was done with his stack of paperwork had barely scratched the surface of it. _

_"Toshiro," She started, getting a look from the said person. Momo guessed that he was surprised that she was using his actual name for once instead of the normal childish nickname. "You don't seem okay."_

_"I told you already, I'm fine." To empathize his point, he picked up the brush and dipped it in the bottle of ink, hand poised to fill out more paperwork. _

_"No, I see that you're okay, health-wise." She cleared her throat. "But, I'm talking about emotionally. You seem out of it lately." Shiro put his brush down and flashed her a small reassuring smile. He walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders, which was quite hard for him to do, seeing as he was shorter than her. _

_"Don't worry about it, Bed-wetter." He said, smirking a bit. "You're just worrying about me too much." And with that statement, he shooed her out the door and locked it. Momo stood there for a moment, wondering if she should try to get back in, or if she should just leave it alone. She rapped the door twice. _

_"Shiro, come by my room after you're finished with paperwork, okay?" She heard a slight grunt in response. With a small smile she walked out of the empty hallway. _

**End of Flashback **

"Are you sure?" She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a gruff voice. It was Renji, standing in the doorway, leaning on the worn down wodden frame.

"What do you mean, 'Am I sure'?" She screeched. At this point she was overwhelmed with the fact that Shiro might be going rogue. "It's Shiro-chan! There's no way that he would do something like this, he's been framed!" Renji stared at her with a fierce glare, as if wondering when the poor girl would get it through her thick skull.

"He's on the run. If he didn't attack you, then why is he running, huh?" Renji felt a pang of sadness run through him. It wasn't like him to crush his friend's hope, but if the tenth squad captain attacked his own best friend, then he'll be damned if he let Toshiro escape.

"B-but I-" Momo started but was then cut off.

"No more buts, Hinamori!" Renji shouted, fists clenched. "Toshiro attacked you, that's all there is to it, and when we catch him, he'll be put on trial, if he is proved innocent, then he'll be set free. If not, then he'd better pray to Kami that he's spared mercy." The red-headed lieutenant walked out of the room. Unohana spoke up.

"Momo, I'll be leaving you to your thoughts. Get some good rest, okay?" Unohana said with a rather forced smile. "Come along, Hanataro."

"O-okay, Unohana-taicho." Hinamori at the moment felt that she should've been comforted, but the only person that could do that was Hitsugaya.

"Actually, could you please let Hanataro stay with me for a moment?" She asked. The fourth squad captain smiled again and nodded. With that, she shut the door and left the two in peace.

"What did you want me here for, if I may ask?" Hanataro said, trying to ease the silence.

"Tell me what happened." She said. "And I need every detail."

**Meanwhile at a Captains' Meeting. . . **

"This is outrageous! Why would Hitsugaya-taicho do something like this?" Kuchiki asked. At this question many of the captains began to argue and take sides.

"Enough!" Yamato shouted, silencing the whole room. "What has happened, has happened. Nothing can change that. There's already been an order set to arrest Hitsugaya," Everyone noticed that Yamato avoided saying 'taicho' in the white-haired boy's name. "We'll find him, and get some answers."

"But, what will happen if he is guilty?" Ukitake asked, after all he was rather fond of the child.

"Then he will be put on trial and either executed, or put in jail for a _very _long time."

"And if the kid is innocent?" Shunsui brought up, tilting his hat slightly, cigarette hanging from his mouth, still lit.

"Then he will be observed every minute of his 'freedom' for a month." Yamato decided. "This decision is final, understand?" A chorus of 'understood' greeted his question.

"Central 46 has no say in this?" Soi-fon asked.

"There is no Central 46 to ask." Yamato stated. "Or, have you forgotten that they were all slaughtered by Aizen? There hasn't been any time to form a new Central 46, so we are going to have to make decisions ourselves. Dismissed."

As the room was emptied, Yamato said to himself, "Toshiro, what have you done?"

**Noted to Readers: **

Okay, so yes I happened to notice that Byakuya is totally OOC in this one, including Renji sort of. I can explain. With Byakuya, I was trying to put in another captain that would totally do something like this, and for some odd reason I totally forgot most of the captains' names. I was trying to use Komamura or whatever his name was. I mostly remembered the lieutenants...and I have no clue why.

Now with Abarai. I noticed that I made him a bit OOC as well, and I clearly have no good explaination for this. I was going to use Matsumoto, but then I thought that Renji was a better candidate. I mean, would you reall see Matsumoto leaning on a door frame and then suddenly shouting at Hinamori and glaring at her? Well, I don't.

I think that I did a good job with Hanataro, but I was horrible with Unohana. Oh, and to say, she wasn't at the Captains' Meeting because she chose to watch over Hinamori. And I'm not good with characters that I've barely seen in the show. I'm only of episode 126 right after they were talking about the Winter War and crap.

Yamato...I sucked with writing him. I have no idea what he's like and don't know a lot about his character. Maybe in the future when I see more of the other characters and get a good grip on their personalities, then I might make it better. Soi-fon is sort of off in my opinion. And yes, I also noted that I had no Toshiro in this chapter, even though this story's about him. I'm planning to put him in the next chapter, and make it mostly about him.

Other than the fact that I put this to explain stuff, I also am putting this to make the chapter longer. Oh, and to my lovely reviewer thank you! Any suggestions would be nice. Here's my reviewer, and I do this like once in a while in most of my recent stories only because I like to thank people who actually read my stories.. And that is also a plot to get more reviewers. Yes, I'm evil. And upon listing my reviewers, I noted that I only have one. And no, I'm not a review bitch. But I like reviewers.

ichiruki45 (My one and only reviewer at the FREAKING moment.)


	4. Better Days

**Fellow Readers: **

I feel a little bad for doing this, because now I feel like a hypocrite. Seriously. Okay, well my stories are gonna have a vote. Which one should I update most, and what should I do for other stories. Okay, the first vote is going to be for the stories, which should I update first? I'm going to put it on my profile and let you guys post your votes on the reviews too. Okay, so the stories are:

1. When the Frost Thaws

2. When it Comes to Slaughter

3. When You're Someone Else

4. Murder Never Sleeps

5. A Chilling Threat

Upon listing out my stories, I happened to notice that most of my stories start with 'when'. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. And I actually had a plot for another story, but since I'm running on excess energy and on the late hours, I completely forgot what that plot was. And it was a pretty good plot, I remember that much. *sigh* I am a useless person today. Seriously.


	5. Right on Time

Hey, everyone! I've made a decision, and I hope that you enjoy my choices. If noyt, feel free to PM me about this. Though, it'd be a waste of energy, because I won't read it, and I'll just delete it like any other message that's practically useless and something that I don't want to read. Yeah, I'm evil. Don't blame me, it comes with the job. Okay, here's the order in which everything will be updated _weekly_.

1. When You're Someone Else

2. When the Frost Thaws

3. When it Comes to Slaughter

4. A Chilling Threat

5. Murder Never Sleeps

Right. If you didn't notice, they're practically lined up the same as when I listed them. In reality, there wasn't a real good point in this vote, I just put it to see how many of you were actually paying attention to my updates and to get my story schedule down. Thanks for participating, I'll be sure to never swindle you guys like that again. And for those who read my stories, and didn't even vote, get out of here, you're wasting my skills and a bunch of internet space.

Oh, and noted to my actual reviewers who are good and awesome! Cheers to you. I was going to update the first story, but then something weird happened. I'm at my cousin's house, and I am awkwardly shy about people reading what I write. I don't know why, but I am, and her internet is supremely slow and the 'guest' computer is like a dinosaur. That meant that it's really old, and won't even go to standby mode.

So, I wrote the next chapter, and it was awesome! I mean, best work by far, and unfortunately thanks to my cousin's dino-comp, it got erased before I had a chance to save it. I feel really angry, and that's not helping me, because I am super annoyed at my friend, and I have no clue why. He's suddenly really aggravating and makes everything seem annoying about him. He even said that 'stories don't matter' to me! Do you know how much stories matter to me? They're my life! I'm a junior writer, and he definitely said the wrong thing.

Plus my other best friend is going to Austrailia next week. He's my crush, just like in Phineas and Ferb. He's not completely hopeless, because I think he knows I like him, but we keep it all the same. Maybe that's why I'm so angry? I mean, being separated from your best friends is a bit sad.

Also, sorry about this terribly long update. I'll get the next chapter up soon, I promise. And hopefully, by then, I'll figure out what's wrong with my brain. Oh, and I am also going to be posting another story soon. Not a one-shot. It's a Phineas and Ferb story, in which poor Phineas has been turned into a vampire! I really need to get off the whole vampire subject, I mean seriously. That's not too normal for a twelve year old girl. Then again, I am a writer, so I suppose being a tad bit odd is part of the job. Yes,.I am really twelve. I lie on my profile because it's safety protocol for my family.


	6. Find the Truth

Toshiro's POV

Shuuhei held his sword to me, it's blade glinting in the midnight moon light. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Not at all. Momo was supposed to be protected by me, not nearly slaughtered. Hate filled me once again. Aizen. Momo was so broken and shattered, far before she should've been. It was hard even for me to pick those left over fragments up. She's so convinced that Aizen was tricked into betraying Soul Society, that he was blackmailed by Ichimaru Gin. I wished that nothing had ever happened. That Momo was still innocent and pure, I wished that she had never met Aizen. She was- I mean, is- lost.

Everyone knows that Aizen betrayed them, clear as day. But, I don't want to break her even more by telling her so.

Yet, I already had. I had hurt her, and by now, someone was telling her what was already stated. The proof. I honestly never trusted Aizen to begin with, nor had I trusted Ichimaru. Especially with that fox-like smile of his. Aizen always wore a small smile to her, making up lies and making her trust him. I always caught an evil aura around him and his 'partner'. So, in fact, they never really betrayed me at all. They just did what I imagined they would do. But, Tousen. He had taken the bond that we had and ripped it to pieces. He probably told Aizen what I thought of him, too. Just for that extra measure.

At this point, the people that I trusted were the only people in my life.

I couldn't- no, can't- afford to trust anyone in my life right now. Not after hurting my childhood friend, the person I trusted the most. The one who knew me the best, other than my fuku-taicho. I'd never admit it out loud, but I cared for people. I was supposed to protect those below me, not have those below me protect the one above them. That's not how it works.

In fact, I doubt that I'd be in this situation right now if it weren't for Aizen...

Normal POV

Hisagi was confused at the small captain's actions. He didn't want to watch the boy be exucuted, and the shinigami knew that he would be, due to the fact that all of the evidence was pointed toward Toshiro. And Toshiro wasn't completely forgiven yet. Not after the Kusaka incident. Shuuhei was sure that the taicho knew this as well. He gave a deep sigh, knowing that he would regret his next actions.

"Toshiro," He said. "Go. Just go and find the truth."

"What? Y-You're letting me go just like that?" His teal eyes widened a miniscule amount.

"You have to make it look like you fought back. So just render me unconsious and go." Hisagi said remorsefully, not even bothering to answer the taicho's question.

"B-But, I can't do that! Not to a comrade." He said.

"Hitsugaya-taicho! You hurt Hinamori severely and managed to get Renji unconsious. Tell me that there isn't a good reason to do the same to me."

"You're letting me go, I knew that Renji wasn't. I need to find out..." The white haired-shinigami said. Hisagi thought that the white haired taicho was too stubborn for his own good.

"Just do it! They'll be here soon!" The sound of many footsteps was heard nearby. Toshiro bit his lip and sighed.

"If it is as you wish." He took the hilt of his sword and hit it against Shuuhei's forehead. Said shinigami fell back, kantana clattering to the cobble-stone floor. "Sorry, Shuuhei about that. But, you have my thanks." Toshiro shreathed his sword, and disappeared, leaving another comrade laying unconsious. The footsteps of his fellow squad members were already heard in the alley. One of them gasped.

"Lieutenant? Get him to the Fourth Squad immediately!"

"Why would Hitsugaya-taicho do such a thing?"

"Who cares why, just follow him, and get him captured immediately! No questions asked!"

"Yes, sir!" Hisagi could barely register him being lifted onto a stretcher as he drifted father away.

_'Find the...truth, Hitsugaya...Toshiro...'_

**Noted to Readers: **

Hey! I updated this so I don't have to update for the next two weeks! Yay! I hoped that you enjoyed this. I am dropping 'Murder Never Sleeps' for good. It's up for adoption if anyone wants to take it. Please PM me if you are adopting it so I can read your version of the story! Thanks for reading!


	7. What You Already Know

Toshiro felt a wave of guilt come over him. He had nearly murdered his childhood friend and rendered two lieutenants unconscious. Pray tell that someone would just appear and help him sort out this mess. But, at the moment he was running from about all of the Gotei 13 Protection Squads. He took in a breath and thought back to what Shuuhei had said to him. _Find the truth? Well, sorry, lieutenant, I already know the truth._

"Comin' to confirm what ya already know, little captain?" This caused Toshiro to stop in his tracks. He knew that voice. He'd know that from anywhere.

"I-Ichimaru?" He stuttered out before turning around. His teal eyes expected to see Ichimaru in all of his glory, which wasn't much, standing behind him. No one was there.

"Sorry, Toshiro. 'm right here." Gin whispered in his ear. Said white haired shinigami whirled around and unsheathed Hyorinmaru, pointing it directly towards the ex-third-captain.

"What do you want, Ichimaru? Are you here to apologize to Matsumoto finally? Or are you here to cause havoc?" He hissed, eyes ablaze with hate. This was one of the reasons that his precious Momo was falling apart.

"To cause havoc? Seems like ya got that covered, little captain. As to 'pologize to Ran-chan, not now." He smiled widely which sent shivers down Toshiro's spine.

"Then what the _hell_ do you want?" He growled through clenched teeth. Ever since meeting the third captain, he never trusted him. That smile unnerved him. And the fact that he betrayed Soul Society without much of a reason also bothered him. Highly.

"I want to take you back to Hueco Mundo. You're working with us after all." Gin was playing with Toshiro, and the person who hid so well that even the tenth-squad, or should we say, the ex-tenth squad captain didn't even notice. Or bothered to care.

"No. I'm. Not!" He charged slashing at the captain with all of his might. Anger overpowered his sense of reasoning. Kira, who was hiding in the corner, didn't know who's words to trust. Ichimaru's or Toshiro's? While Kira was contemplating this, Gin was laughing hysterically at the little captain's anger, which gave Hitsugaya all the more reason to attack.

"Well, I gotta say, Toshiro. You seem to 'ave gotten worse since we left this place." He teased, knowing that Kira was watching. "Now, ya better calm down, otherwise Aizen-sama's gonna take you back. We need ya to complete our plans."

"The hell I am!" He managed to stab Gin in the liver, getting a gasp out of the man. This only drove Toshiro to dig his blade deeper. Gin looked as if he was going to howl of laughter.

"Got me." He said. That was when Toshiro realized that he had stabbed Kira. "Or not." Gin's voice echoed. He drew back, and looked at the horror. Kira was bleeding quite heavily from the wound. Toshiro shed his haori and tore it in pieces, wrapping the wound with it, trying to ease the bleeding.

"Dammit." Toshiro muttered under his breath. "If I hadn't been so angry, none of this would've happened."

"Oddly enough, it did. Didn't it?" Gin said to the little captain. Which was responded with a low growl. "Come to Hueco Mundo, Toshiro. We can help you." Kira chose this moment to act and trust Toshiro.

"No! Don't do it!" He whispered. "Don't leave with him, it'll only make you seem more of a traitor." Toshiro growled at Gin once more.

"Hell no." He said. Laughing, Gin snapped his fingers.

"Fine then, we'll just see if you can say no now." Black crept into his vision, and then no more.


End file.
